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“Let me just drop off my groceries and grab the key.”
Inside the improved apartment, his father didn’t say anything, just wandered through the place. In spite of how Sam tried to justify everything that had taken place at the apartment complex in the last few months, deep down he was at least guilty of going against policy. He waited for the disappointment to roll in.
“She must be pretty.” His father threw a stern eye in his direction.
He didn’t try to pretend not to understand the implication. Sam slipped his hat off, running a hand through his hair before returning the cap to his head. “The situation was a little more complex than that.”
“Right,” the man replied with a shake of his head. “Look, I don’t know if you’re just lonely or horny or what, but you understand why we can’t allow stuff like this to happen, right?”
The logical argument was because most people could do serious damage, costing the property company more money to fix. “I know, Dad. I—Like I said, the situation was more complex. Most of everything in here was done with my supervision.”
“Your supervision?”
He sighed. “My help.”
“And the person you approved to take over the place. What was that? Because with all the interest in the place, I find it hard to believe this was the most financially sound tenant you could have chosen.”
“Her name is Charlene. She’s going through a tough time and it seemed like she really needed a break. I gave it to her.” He was prepared for his father to be angry but, amazingly, he didn’t care. Sam didn’t regret anything.
His father shook his head. “It must be nice that you can be so generous with a property on my dime.”
“I’m sorry…but I’m actually not sorry, because all this stuff that I’ve been doing, I like it, and maybe I want to do more than save a dime here and there. Because I, of all people, know that second chances don’t come along very often, and it’s the people who don’t expect to get one that appreciate it the most.
“Go ahead and fire me. Find someone else to do the bare minimum to make you a buck. But if you keep me on, I’m going to manage the way that I think is best and sometimes that means going a little outside the box. If you don’t want to take ownership of Schnell Ridge, I will because I live here.”
Sam’s dad pulled him into a weird half-hug. “Okay, okay, I get it.” His father removed a phone from his pocket, retrieving a photo. “Have I ever shown you my garden? Maybe next season, I’ll send you some of my heirloom seeds.”
“Okay,” Sam replied, thrown off by the turn of conversation.
“And, yes, I’m disappointed you basically went behind my back to do all this. I thought you were smarter than to allow yourself to be persuaded by a smile from a pretty girl. But you clearly feel passionate about whatever all this is, and I miss seeing that side of you. If you got ideas, let’s hear them, but I’d rather we be a team. You’re still my son and I love you.”
His father continued. “The place looks good. Clearly, other people agree. If you want to do more in the company, then let’s talk and figure something out.”
“Okay,” Sam said again. For once, he didn’t feel as though he was fighting against something, and maybe he could do this. With his experiences with Luna and Charlene and the rest of the residents at Schnell Ridge, he was starting to have ideas, different ideas his dad probably wasn’t going to like. But they were motivating him in a way that he hadn’t felt in a while.
Instead of seeing the apartment complex as a trap, he was starting to realize he had access to a resource that could help people. It wasn’t sports medicine but watching Charlene sign the lease paperwork with a quiet excitement, the pages slightly shaking in her hands, he had the epiphany that Luna had been right the whole time. Coming home to someplace special meant something. Why did a person need to wait decades for something they wanted?
At the moment, he wanted Luna. And he had thought he had to wait until his mom’s house was sold or work was better or for a moment when life stopped throwing curveballs and everything was easy. But that magical period of time may never happen.
He kept waiting for his luck to strike. Maybe it was time for him to do some striking of his own.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Perfect.
Everything was perfect in Luna’s new place. It took her about a week to set everything exactly how she had envisioned it. Rental or not, it was hers for the foreseeable future.
That evening, she brushed her hair into soft waves, slipped on a luxurious, floor-length royal blue velour robe, and grabbed a glass of red wine. From her bookshelf, Luna retrieved a literary novel to read on the couch. Duchess the cat cleaned herself on the shag rug before curling into a tight circle. This was how her evening should be. #PonderosaDream #AdultingRight #Blessed
Her place was quiet, almost too quiet. Luna streamed some music on her phone. Classical, right? The music made it hard to concentrate on her book or it could have been paragraphs upon paragraphs of reading about a middle-aged man who may or may not be in a tent in the woods while also recounting the time he was an astronaut with Werner Herzog or something. She sighed while flipping through the pages. God, her hair was annoying, and she couldn’t get comfortable at all.
Ten minutes later, she’d thrown her hair into a sloppy bun, put on an old pair of flannel pajama bottoms with her lion tank top that still contained a few paint splatters. She turned on an episode of some garbage TV show and sprinkled chocolate chips into a jar of peanut butter to snack on with a spoon.
This was better—or at least she was more comfortable. The problem was, she was still lonely. At least at Schnell Ridge there was activity always happening on the property. Here there was nothing.
Luna retrieved her phone and scrolled through her contact list. She missed Tessa. After debating with herself, she composed a message.“I miss talking with you.”She sat with it for a few moments. Was it enough of a start? She grew impatient and hit send, taking the risk.
Luna had anxiety over how Tessa might reply. She no longer cared which woman onMore Than Skin Deepgot picked by the bachelor surgeon searching for love but also performing plastic surgery on the winner to create his ideal woman. A happy ending wasn’t guaranteed, not for the contestants of the show and certainly not for her.
